Awards:

Rising Star Award, American Black Film Festival, 2002.

Sidelights

Prolific film and television actor Mekhi Phifer starred in more than 20
films between the year of his acting debut in Spike Lee's
Clockers
in 1995 and 2003, in which he appeared in
Honey.
In addition to his film work, he joined the regular cast of the hit NBC
medical drama series
ER
in 2002 in the

Mekhi Phifer

role of Dr. Gregory Pratt, an arrogant young M.D. whose overconfidence
often lands him in hot water with his colleagues. He has also starred in
numerous made–for–TV movies, and guest starred on the
series
Homicide: Life on the Street,
and
New York Undercover.
In the early 2000s, he founded his own film and television production
company called Ki–Kel Entertainment.

Phifer, whose first name is pronounced "Muh–KIE,"
explained to Amy Dawes in the
Los Angeles Daily News,
reprinted in the
Plain Dealer,
that his name "derives from the Muslim holy city of Mecca, and
relates to water, and how water sustains life and is one of the
strongest elements."

He grew up in New York's Harlem neighborhood. Phifer's
family includes, in addition to his mother, his twin brother; they have
never met their father. Phifer and his family had very little money
while he was growing up, but he considered himself rich in experience
and with the love of his mother. His mother taught in public schools,
and after she got off work in the afternoon, she was able to spend a lot
of time with her children—a factor he later said contributed to
his staying out of trouble, even though many of his peers were involved
in illegal activities. His home was across the street from a rough
housing project, where many people he knew were involved in drug dealing
and other crimes.

Phifer's mother was perhaps the strongest influence on him as he
was growing up. For instance she made sure he got home at a reasonable
time at night, instead of letting him stay out on the streets until
late, as so many of his peers did. With his mother's help, Phifer
managed to steer clear of run–ins with the law. He also worked
hard at odd jobs starting at the age of 13, developing a strong work
ethic. Jobs that kept him in spending money included doing building
maintenance, distributing snacks at a community center, and working as a
clerk at the Gap clothing chain.

Strongly interested in acting from an early age, Phifer participated in
community theater productions in Harlem, and in talent contests. Before
becoming a professional actor, he won a national talent contest, which
resulted in his landing a record deal with Warner Bros. to cut a rap
album.

Phifer got his start as a professional actor at the age of 19. He had
just graduated from high school in 1994, and had been admitted to a
college to study electrical engineering. He was dividing his time
between working on the rap album for Warner Bros. and a construction job
in New York, when he heard from a cousin who was an actor that director
Spike Lee was casting his next film through an open call. Almost on a
lark, he decided to accompany his cousin to the audition.

The only problem was, he did not have a set of actor's
eight–by–ten–inch headshots. So, on the way to the
audition, he stopped in at a Woolworth's store and had small,
passport–sized pictures taken. The film for which Phifer
auditioned was
Clockers,
and he was somewhat daunted at the audition to find that it was being
held in a large auditorium full of professional actors, each of whom had
the large, professional quality headshots that Phifer lacked; he felt
less than prepared, with his, as he told the
Toronto Sun
's Bob Thompson, "postage stamp pictures."

Even so, Phifer was noticed at the open call, and after a short
interview, was told to report for a call-back at a smaller audition in a
week's time. At the callback, Phifer met Lee, who impressed
Phifer with his style and poise. The feeling was mutual, and Lee hired
Phifer to star in his film after a half dozen more callbacks. Lee later
told reporters that that Phifer had a certain presence that Lee was
looking for in the lead for his film. In
Clockers,
Phifer plays a young drug dealer, or "clocker," who is
accused of murder. Phifer's character, called Strike, finds
himself with his back to the wall, caught between the duel forces of a
cop played by Harvey Keitel, and his surrogate father, who got him into
drug dealing in the first place.

Following his work on
Clockers,
Phifer continued to work on his rap album. But between his acting and
music careers, he lacked the time to attend college as he had originally
planned. He had no regrets, however, expressing the sentiment that he
had gotten an excellent education in film acting courtesy of Lee, and
had gotten paid for it besides.

Phifer's first film role was by no means the last:
Clockers
launched a new career for him. Other film and television roles followed
in rapid succession. His next role after
Clockers
was in the comedy
High School High,
followed by the horror film
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.
He also appeared in 1997's
Soul Food,
in which he plays an ex–convict husband, 1998's
Hell's Kitchen, NYC,
1999's
An Invited Guest,
and 2001's
O,
based on William Shakespeare's play
Othello,
in which he performed an update of the title character.

The "O" in
O
is an African–American basketball star at an otherwise
all–white boarding school in the present day South. Phifer
relished in this role the opportunity to portray a young
African–American man in a positive, charismatic
light—something, he told Celia McGee in the
Daily News,
that was uncommon in Hollywood. "People haven't seen a
young black man in this kind of role before," he told McGee.

The film's release was delayed after the shootings at Columbine
High School in Colorado. Miramax, the distributor, feared negative
publicity surrounding the release of a film that featured high school
violence. Finally, after two years in limbo, the film was released by
Lions Gate. Phifer disagreed with the decision to delay the release of
the film. His feeling was that, rather than encourage high school
violence, the film would spark dialogue between parents and their
children, and help to prevent violence: "Everything O does is
motivated by love, not hate," he told McGee. "I hope that
the R rating will bring parents and kids to the movie together and
bridge some gaps. It should create mutual respect."

Phifer did not have to audition for the starring role in
O;
he landed the part after having dinner with director Tim Blake Nelson,
who had become interested in Phifer after seeing him in
Soul Food.
As Nelson told Hugh Hart in the
Boston Globe,
"I liked very much Mekhi Phifer, the actor I saw in
Soul Food,
but I loved the person with whom I was sitting when we met. I knew
before we parted company that day that he was going to play the
role."

Other roles for Phifer at this time included 2000's
Shaft,
a remake of the 1970s detective film, and 2001's
Carmen: A Hop–Hopera,
a TV movie produced
for MTV. Other television roles included parts in
The Tuskegee Airman, Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground,
Brian's Song,
and
A Lesson Before Dying,
in which he starred with Don Cheadle. He also appeared in guest spots
on the television series
Homicide: Life on the Street
in 1996 and 1998, and
New York Undercover,
in 1996.

Within five years of his screen debut, Phifer appeared in more than a
dozen films, all the while managing to avoid the typecasting that
sometimes limits African–American actors. "I never wanted
to be one of these cats shuckin' and jivin'," he
explained to Denene Millner in the
Daily News.
He further stated that he would never appear in a film that he could
not be proud of watching, and that included films that perpetuated
negative stereotypes of African Americans.

In 2002, Phifer was hired to play Dr. Gregory Pratt on the popular NBC
hospital drama
ER.
Once again, Phifer welcomed the opportunity to demolish stereotypes
about young African–American men, telling Eric Deggans in the
St. Petersburg Times
that it was a role he could get behind, unlike many he had turned down,
including "all the stuff that perpetuates a fake
stereotype." He also enjoyed the challenge of learning medical
jargon and inhabiting a role that is far removed from his own personal
experience.

Meanwhile, Phifer continued to appear in films, including
Imposter, Paid in Full
and
8 Mile,
all in 2002. In
8 Mile,
Phifer performed opposite rap star Eminem, who was making his acting
debut. The film presents a fictionalized version of Eminem's
upbringing in rough sections of Detroit. Phifer, then 27 years old, was
selected as much for his street smarts as for his talents as an actor.
As part of the rehearsal process, Phifer and Eminem and the rest of the
cast spent a lot of time together off camera to build the spirit of
camaraderie that was important to the film's performances.
"We went to the malls, we went to the football games and spent
time with each other and became friends," Phifer explained to the
Los Angeles Times.
Phifer followed up his role in
8 Mile
with a part in
Honey.
Released in 2003, the film features Phifer as the love interest of a
music video choreographer.

Phifer married his costar in
An Invited Guest,
Malinda Williams, but they divorced a short time later. They had met
while working together on the film
High School High
in 1996. He described himself to the
Daily News
's McGee as "very happily divorced."

In addition to his work as an actor, Phifer also pursues careers in
producing and screenwriting. He does not take his success for granted;
on his shoulder is a tattoo that says "R.I.S.E.," which
stands for "Robbing Is So Easy." He explained to the
Boston Globe
's Hart that it is a reminder of his humble roots, and how easy
it would be return to them.

Perhaps to hedge his bets, he has invested in the Athlete's Foot
chain of shoe stores, becoming the youngest owner of the chain's
shops. Phifer also founded his own film production company, called
Ki–Kel Entertainment, and sells merchandise on his website,
Mekhi.net
. His partners in these ventures include Kelly Hilaire, whom he met on a
video shoot in 1996, and the cousin who took him to the Spike Lee
audition that started his acting career, Sly Phifer. In 2003, he began
filming the movies
Dawn of the Dead
and
Slow Burn.

Phifer is modest about his successes, telling the
Los Angeles Times,
"I'm not here to save the world," and that coming
from "a ghetto situation," he has learned that the secret
to success is to "keep it real and go with what you know."